“I think my biggest concern for the property revaluation process is to make sure everyone knows what is going to occur,” said Lawrence Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun at the informational meeting held at the Lawrence Township Senior Citizens’ Center on Wednesday.

“This is the third in a slew of meetings we are holding throughout the township to make sure everyone knows what the revaluation is and how it works.”

In February 2011, the Mercer County Board of Taxation ordered Lawrence Township to complete a revaluation in time for tax year 2014. Out of the 13 towns in Mercer County, Trenton, Ewing, Lawrence and Hamilton have not revalued within the last five years. Lawrence Township is currently on track to complete the program by the end of the year. The county tax board has asked the state to extend the revaluation periods for Trenton, Ewing and Hamilton to 2015.

The informational “road-show” hopes to calm fears of possible increased property taxes. However, some seniors who attended the meeting were skeptical and wondered how much the revaluation will affect their property values, taxes and their fixed income budgets.

“I cannot possibly see how my taxes will stay the same or even go down, as they were saying before,” said Kay Palazey. The senior who lives in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in the township, currently pays just under $8,000 in property taxes.

“I mean it is possible that some people will see a decrease in their taxes, but I don’t think that will happen to me, and I cannot believe that the township will not make any money off of this.”

The reval program, according to county officials, will not increase revenue to the township but rather will equally distribute the tax burden fairly amongst all property owners. Professional Property Appraisers Inc., is an independently owned appraisal company which won the bid from the township to inspect every assessable property and provide detailed information about the real estate.

Lawrence Township is at an approximate 50 percent sales ration, meaning that the value of most assessable property, (including homes, commercial real estate and houses of worship which are not tax exempt,) is not assessed to a full market value.

Appraisers for the company estimate that one-third of the properties will be assessed at higher values, one-third will be assessed at lower values and the remaining third will remain the same.

“The revaluation program seeks to spread the tax burden equitably within a municipality,” said Jeff Acolia, Lawrence Assessor who is working with the county to spearhead the initiative.

“For the first time in my life, I’m experiencing this revaluation scare. I don’t know what the reval company is going to put on my assessment and so I feel for everyone in this room, I’m going through the same thing right now,” admitted Acolia, who does not live in Lawrence Township but is experiencing a revaluation program at his Jersey Shore home.

Licensed professional appraisers have already begun to take pictures of over 2,500 properties in the southern part of the township. Appraisers will continue the process by measuring the outside of the structures of all real estate and will work with homeowners and commercial real estate owners to walk through the inside of the property and take notes about the conditions.

By the end of the year, property owners will receive a letters from the appraisers which will define the updated assessment of the property and its taxes. Owners who do not agree with the assessed value will have an opportunity to discuss the letter with appraisers and provide rebuttal information to refute the value.

“This will not be an appeals process, this is an informal meeting where you can bring all your paperwork to show what you think the property value should be,” said Brian Schneider from Professional Property Appraisers.

“If you want to appeal the decision after our appraisal has been submitted to Mercer County, you will need to appeal to the taxation board.”

Appraisals will be based on sales of relatively equal value and structure and sales must have occurred between Oct. 1, 2011 to Oct. 1, 2012.

“I am always concerned about tax revaluations,” said Councilman David Maffei. “I am not quite sure how it works, some people will save money and some may not… and I am worried that my taxes may go up.”